Building the Next Generation of Leaders

Since 2012, the CASE i3 Fellowship and Consulting Program has provided Duke MBA students with real world experience working
in teams to solve problems and create products in the evolving impact investing marketplace.

Bringing Cutting Edge Ideas to Business Education

Forbes contributor, Devin Thorpe, explains impact investing for “the rest of us.” As he says in the article, “Here’s the thing: most impact investments are only open to wealthy people. This is a guide to impact investing for everyone else, [...]

In impact investing circles, we have long talked about the scarcity of large, financially-rewarding, investor exits. While there have been some financially profitable exits and many enterprises with valuations now well above what investors paid for their stakes, there have [...]

In 2016, SJF Ventures undertook a project to better understand the climate change impact of its portfolio. SJF worked with a team from CASE i3 through the CASE i3 Consulting Program, along with its partners at the Duke Carbon Offset [...]

Earlier this month, CASE Director of Programs Robyn Fehrman had the opportunity to attend SOCAP16 for the first time. Read about her three reflections on the experience of attending the annual convening of global innovators, investors, foundations, governments, institutions, and [...]

Given the increasing complexity and diversity of the impact investing market, it can be difficult to navigate for newcomers and current practitioners alike. In this SOCAP16 session, the panel steps back to review the state of play. How far have [...]

Want to learn more about impact investing? You’ve come to the right place!

Welcome to the CASE i3 Initiative on Impact Investing!

CASE i3’s mission is to establish a rich set of resources and activities for MBA students, entrepreneurs, investors, funders, academics and policymakers to explore and support the field of Impact Investing over its critical period of development over the next 5-10 years.

What is Impact Investing and what does it include?

Impact investments are investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact investing is a new term but the practice has been around for decades.

The strategy encompasses a broad range of activity from microfinance and community development finance, to investments in renewable energy, global health, education and international development. The non-publicly owned portion of the impact investing market has been surveyed annually by JP Morgan and the Global Impact Investing Network and was estimated to encompass $60 billion in assets under management in 2014. If you include public markets, one out of every 6 dollars invested in the global stock market is socially screened.

Visit the CASE i3 100, our list of the top 100 articles, blogs, databases, investment platforms, job boards, and research on the field. According to Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation,“There’s something for everyone in here!”

Read this great Forbes piece on how ANYONE can earn both a social and financial return from .25-5.5% with as little as a $20 investment.

If you have 60 minutes:

Download our 57 page ebook, Collaborative Capitalism, to read on your phone, tablet or laptop. Jean Oelwang, CEO of Virgin Unite, said it shows how impact investing is“putting collaboration, wisdom and empathy back at the heart of capitalism.”

View our resource feed, which includes videos, articles, case studies, and more, and is searchable by theme (try entering “social impact bond,” or “Latin America” in the search box in the upper right corner of this page, or click on a theme in the right hand bar.)

If you want to dig in deeper:

Download or order The Impact Investor book. The book has been called “impact investing’s Rosetta stone,” which “offers an opportunity to understand the field from every vantage point;” “the kind of book that you will want to read cover-to-cover, because only then will you fully appreciate its breadth and depth of insight,” and “a truly groundbreaking work that delivers some of the very finest thinking on impact investing, and presents it in a warm and inspiring way.” It includes a forward from Sir Ronald Cohen, the chair of the Social Impact Investment Taskforce established by the G8.

Was CASE i3 the first MBA program to focus on impact investing?

Yes. CASE i3 was the first comprehensive global program at a top global business school to blend academic rigor with practical knowledge in the emerging field of Impact Investing. We launched in September 2011 with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, and since then we’ve educated thousands of students, partnered with over 100 organizations globally, including the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation and USAID, convened over 600 practitioners at our events, produced over 25 reports, books, and case studies (and many more blogs!), have taught global leaders about impact investing in customized seminars, and supported research in the field across more than 13 other universities, including Harvard Business School, Wharton and Emory. Our alumni are actively building the field with us, across the globe. Read our impact stats to learn more.